Eggs with a surprise: what's inside Faberge eggs

Faberge Eggs is a famous series of jewelry made by Carl Faberge from 1885 to 1917. Each egg is unique in both appearance and content. The company employed several outstanding craftsmen who worked on jewelry masterpieces for the imperial court, including Mikhail Perkhin, Henrik Wigström, Albert Holmström.

Faberge Egg "Chicken"

The story of the creation of these eggs began with the fact that Emperor Alexander III ordered an Easter gift from Karl Faberge jewelry company with a surprise for his wife - Empress Maria Fedorovna. The first egg was made in 1885 and was called the Chicken.

The Empress liked the gift, and Alexander III himself was so pleased that he ordered Faberge and his masters to make one jewelry egg each year. Gift eggs for the emperor’s wife were to be unique, original and contain a surprise gift inside. Thus was born a series of jewelry intended for Empress Maria Fedorovna, and later, when Nicholas II ascended the throne, Faberge began to make two Easter eggs: one for his mother and one for his wife, Empress Alexandra Fedorovna.

Faberge Egg "Alexander Palace"

It was not Karl Faberge himself who worked on the creation of each egg, as many mistakenly believe. The company had more than 10 jewelers engaged in the manufacture of Easter masterpieces. All eggs have different sizes and, of course, different design and original surprises inside: models of palaces and ships, watches and chariots, and much more. These are real masterpieces of jewelry, which, unfortunately, have been scattered around the world.

Faberge Egg "Diamond Mesh"

At the moment, it is known about the creation of 71 jewelry in the shape of an egg, which were made by the masters of the company Carl Faberge. Most of them - 54 (according to other sources 52) gift Easter eggs were made specifically for the royal family, and the rest belonged to private collectors. After the 1917 revolution, many copies of the imperial collection or the contents and surprises of the eggs were lost, and their searches resemble an action-packed detective story.

Faberge Egg "Pansies"

The surviving eggs are in museums and private collections around the world. The largest number of exhibits are: Faberge Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia), Armory Museum (Moscow, Russia), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond, USA), British Royal Collection (Great Britain).